Maui-fied!

It's been a busy couple months for us, between J and his finals, me and work, adoption paperwork, painting the guest room and nursery (pics to come), and vacation! It's back to busy with summer school for J and adoption scrapbook and homestudy to start soon. Here are some pics from our trip to Maui. Seriously, one of the best vacations I've ever had! My favorite part, laying on the beach with a book in my hands, listening to the waves crashing. Sweet, beautiful music. Hawaii is one of the most beautiful places. We scored an incredible deal on a rental. Check out Vacation Rentals By Owner online if you're looking for a house to rent. We cooked most of our own food, which saved us a lot of dough! If you get the chance to go, I highly recommend it!

One of South Maui's beautiful beaches


Honolua Bay, where J snorkeled, gorgeous reef

Doesn't it just make you feel better? The water was so pretty!

Shopping in Lahaina

Lunch of veggie sushi and miso soup

One of the few places we ate out for all organic wood-fired pizza. Delicious!

Beautiful Maui sunset

One of many waterfalls on the East side

I had to put this one in, this guy, had a ice cream stand in the middle of the jungle. In real life, he had no shirt on and used his machete to dash open a coconut for us to drink the milk and then served us the best vegan coconut ice cream we've ever tasted. Wish I had another bowl now.

Our last night in Maui at an incredible restaurant.

At The Cross

What's defines me? I've been asking myself this question a lot lately. More than that realizing what doesn't define me. All my life I thought I had this real grip on the gospel and all that it is.....but lately I am realizing just how little I've really understood it down to the depths of my soul. I love Jesus, love him so much and I really seek to glorify Him with my life. But, the gospel...the gospel has been changing me. As I've struggled with sin issues and really been asking God to help "kill" those things in me, something in my soul has shifted. I've gone from beating myself up over sin, to seeing my Lord step into the gap every time and remind me, "Child, I died for that." I am so affected by His great sacrifice....more than I ever have been in my 28 years. His perfect love, taking on the wrath of God....so that I might live in eternity. One day, all who believe in Christ will stand before the throne and hear "this one's mine." Can you even try to wrap your mind around that without tears streaming down your face? It's only by His sacrifice and not by my deeds or faith, or rather lack there of.

Isaiah 51:17 talks about the "cup of wrath" that God was giving to his own Son, referring to it as the "cup of staggering."

In his book "The Cross Centered Life", CJ Mahaney discusses the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane.

"Listen again to the precious and powerful words we hear Him repeat to His Father:

'Not my will, but your will.'

Jesus is saying, 'Father, I willingly drink this cup by your command---I'll drink it all.'

And He will. He'll drink all of it, leaving not a drop. Not only will He leave nothing in that cup of wrath for us to drink....but today you and I will find ourselves with another cup in our hands. It's the cup of salvation. From this precious new cup we find ourselves drinking and drinking--drinking consistently, drinking endlessly, drinking eternally...for the cup of salvation is always full and overflowing. We can drink from this cup only because Jesus spoke those words about the other cup: 'Yet not what I will, but what you will.'

I will drink it all."

Oh what love my friends. It is the cross which defines me, defines you. The gospel. It is Christ.

Our Agency

I'm finally getting around to this post, and I am sorry for all my readers who have been '"waiting with baited breath." No, i am sure yall have been as busy as we have been. What is it about Spring that makes us run and schedule like crazy? Maybe because we were all hibernating this winter with the ridiculous cold!!

Back in March we drove to Ft. Worth to spend a day at the Gladney Center for Adoption. I wish we'd of known what we were in for. We were amazed! Gladney houses the birth moms on site, they have a beautiful facility with a gym, pool, house mom, commons with a full kitchen stocked with food, and beautiful rooms. They take such great care of these girls. We learned that the average age of these girls is early twenties. The care continues even after birth with their Next Steps Program, where the girls are helped with resumes, returning to school, and even funding for college if they so choose. They have lifetime counseling. The panel of birth moms was very eye-opening for both of us, it was nice to hear these girls talk about the process and support and the sacrifice they were making to better their child's life. I spent most of the day fighting back tears. Everyone with us had the same story, couldn't have children, and believed this was the next step for them.

We talked and planned and dreamed the whole way home. It was definitely confirmation of God's plan for us. It was neat seeing Jacob so excited about what the future holds for us. We're still in the midst of our paperwork, but making great headway. We hope to have it completed and the homestudy started within the next month.

I've been praying about God's will and asking for him to continue to lead us down His perfect path for our lives. I've seen such a change in my attitude already, I am growing so much as he removes things in me that don't look like him. It's SO hard, but so GOOD! I know opposition could come in this call to adopt.....even within our own hearts in the form of doubting that he will provide....but we are holding fast to truth. Being called to most anything always requires self-sacrifice and then comes great change in perspective. Less about us, more about Him.

The year anniversary of Grace's birthday, came and went......happened to be the day we celebrated Jacob's 30th birthday. I miss that sweet baby girl, but am thankful for the "call" on my life to go on without her and trust that this "work He's began in me, he will be faithful to complete." One day.....I'll know fully.

We picked out a lovely sage green to paint the nursery and will be starting that process slowly. We are also taking a much needed babymoon since we know we could very well have a baby within the next year (WOW!) and will also be broke for the rest of our lives! :) No, but we planned our trip to Maui in a month. Oh wow, are we excited! I cannot wait to just relax and soak up the sun and see an incredible place that I've always dreamed of seeing....even better with the love of my life!

Paperwork Smaperwork

Well, we feel in love with our agency. The orientation was awesome. And I mean awesome. God is good and I will have to put it all in another very long post.

But for now, we are buried in paperwork. It's been my status on GMail for the last two weeks and it's true. Between setting an appointment to get FBI fingerprinted and writing our autobiographies, we've been working and going to school as well. I promise.

My dear friend reminded me after everything we've been through, this is easy. She's right. We're pumped.

God is good.....back to work.

Maca-The Wonder Root

As an ode to the National Healthcare Reform passing....how about an herb bio. I heart maca! Let's talk about the benefits of this Peruvian root, shall we:


Endocrine Support-regulates the endocrine glands responsible for proper hormone balance. "Maca has been found to increase a person's energy levels, encourage growth and stimulate metabolic functions. The nutrients found in maca fuel the system and encourage hormone production."

Support the Adrenals-let's face it, if you're stressed or sick a lot, you're adrenals are and have been taxed. "Maca is an adaptogen and as such helps in maintaining the overall health of the body. Its calcium, fatty acids, and vitamins b1, b2, b12 content aids in the digestive process while its phosphorus, as well as vitamins b12 and b1 works on the nervous system. On the other hand, the alkaloid content of maca helps the body assimilate all the nutrients required by the body.

Help in Fighting Cancer-"the herb contains glucosinolate and fibers that prevent certain forms of cancer." The fatty acid of the herb helps in improving the body's immune system

Natural Pain Reliever-maca contains terpenoids and saponins which give it the power to relieve pain and act as an expectorant, sedative, and analgesic.

And probably the best reason.....

Increase Strength and Libido-the Incan warriors took the herb before battle to keep their bodies strong and ready for rigorous physical activity. It also increase libido. Hey, I am just saying.....


You can get maca in powder form which is most potent, mix with juice to take off the edge. I found that pear juice works best. It's also available in capsule form.

Approved!

I can't believe it happened so fast! We found out Friday that we were accepted to the agency we applied with. Yes, Lord! It was such an added blessing to our already planned date night! So, now begins the process. We head to Fort Worth on March 25th for an all day orientation on the 26th. Then the next step will be to start our home study and work on the scrapbook for birth moms to look through. We've also been brainstorming ways to raise funds. The total cost is going to be between $20,000-$30,000. We believe God to provide in ways unimaginable! In fact, I am planning on Him totally blowing us away! One plan is to have a garage sale and have friends and family donate their used stuff. Send me an email if you'd like to help with that.

This is such an amazing, humbling journey. We feel the peace of God and trust Him totally. He's been stripping away so much of my fears and my...well...junk. It's been so hard letting go of the fear that we may never have biological children. Who cares. We'll have one cool family brought together by the perfect, sovereign will of God!! I love it...love the thought, love the picture in my heart that he's given me. Again, here I am pondering the most precious things in my heart. He's been declaring peace as I try not to be afraid of the possibility of having a mom change her mind. We'll get through it, we'll be ok. Last night in class, we were talking about how Romans 8:28 is undeniable truth...He truly is "working ALL THINGS for our good." Every deep, deep hurt and loss....for our good. This, right here, right now...definitely for our good and for the good of a precious, precious life that we can't wait to teach about a Savior who is good.

Step One Complete

Well, today we submitted our application to an adoption agency! It's so exciting and surreal and wonderful! We feel that it's an incredible honor that God has called us to this! It's humbling. I know God is with us and has gone before us. What an incredible thought to wonder if this baby has already been conceived and to pray for his/her salvation even now! We are praying for the birth mom even now before we know her name or her story. We pray for her heart and for the decision she may not have made yet, but that will be so incredibly hard for her. What an amazing gift she is to us. Sweet, sweet things that I am storing in my heart and pondering.....